The Green Bay Packers wide receiver may be a rising star, a future All-Pro. But one problem from 2012 has spilled into the first week of training camp — the occasional bout of butterfingers.

Cobb? Drops? McCarthy swats the question away.

"Randall Cobb catches the football very well," McCarthy said. "He might drop a ball. I don't know if there's a concern. But it's something we spend a lot of time on. We need to catch the football better....I've never been part of a perimeter group that accepts anything less than being 100 percent, and that's what we're striving for.

"As far as Randall Cobb's evaluation of catching the football, he has very good hands."

Good enough hands to warrant continuous praise from Aaron Rodgers. The quarterback believes Cobb can be "a 100-catch guy." But for that to happen — year in, year out — Cobb will need to cut down his drops. Last season, according to statistics kept by the Journal Sentinel, Cobb had a team-high 10 dropped passes.

Through camp, the 5-foot-10, 192-pounder already has dropped at least four in competitive drills.

On Wednesday and Thursday, he muffed the first pass thrown to him in the receiver-friendly one-on-one drills against cornerbacks. And after Thursday's drop, in the next period, a wide-open Cobb couldn't handle a catchable ball from Rodgers on a seam route, prompting one nearby fan to shout, "Alligator arms!"

Nobody in Green Bay is exactly panicking. Wide receivers coach Edgar Bennett is quick to list all of Cobb's attributes — the "versatility," the "toughness," the "tenacity," being a "student of the game." All of that led to a breakout season of 80 receptions for 954 yards and eight touchdowns last year. Cobb is the precise weapon offenses in 2013 crave. Green Bay can line him up, quite literally, anywhere.

But he needs to catch the football first. For Cobb, that could be the difference between good and great.

"We'll just continue to make that the primary emphasis for us," Bennett said. "Catching the football, how we're catching the football, attacking the ball, not allowing the ball to cross our eyes, looking the ball all the way in. But he had two today that he definitely shouldn't have."

Some drops are the result of a receiver not extending his hands or adjusting to the ball, Bennett explained. And many times, wideouts — like Cobb — let the ball "cross their eyes." They fail to look the ball in, tuck it away and then make a move.

"Sometimes, guys might lose that and just take their eyes off of it as far as getting ready to run," Bennett said. "Generally, sometimes that's what happens. Instead of looking the ball all the way into the tuck, they get ready to see where the defender's coming from and not put the ball away and look the ball all the way in."

He's going to see the ball a lot, again. Cobb was targeted 104 times in 2012. With Greg Jennings off to Minnesota, chances are Cobb's role will increase. A receiver who excelled wide and inside — something Cobb aspires to be — Jennings never had prolonged problems with drops.

For all of his creativity and flash, this summer is also about getting back to basics for Cobb.

"We'll address what happens and we'll clean it up and we should be fine," Bennett said. "It's not an issue. It won't be an issue."

Next level: Dynamic runs in the Packers' offense have been almost non-existent the last three seasons. The last time Green Bay averaged less than 4 yards per carry in back-to-back-to-back seasons was 1993-'95.

Maybe Eddie Lacy (via power) and Johnathan Franklin (via shiftiness) can help change that. When the Packers have all defenders accounted for in the trenches, McCarthy is looking for a back capable of making a linebacker or defensive back miss.

It's "easy math," he said. The defense has 11 players and the offense has 10, excluding the quarterback handing the ball off. The Packers need more explosion.

"I think Eddie Lacy and Johnathan, our two younger guys, have done a very good job of that," McCarthy said. "I would have to say them two have been the most productive second-level players, as far as their ability, the running instincts and the ability to challenge the free hat."

Competition in full swing: The incumbent answered in Round 2. Mason Crosby connected of all five of his field-goal attempts — from 33, 37, 43, 47 and 51 yards — through a slight wind at Ray Nitschke Field in his competition with Giorgio Tavecchio.

Tavecchio missed (and then connected) on his attempt from 51 yards.

Through two sequences, Crosby is 9 of 11 and Tavecchio is 10 of 12. There are multiple differences between the two, special teams coach Shawn Slocum noted. For one, Tavecchio is left-footed. And whereas Crosby uses a two-step approach, Tavecchio takes three steps. Slocum said the extra step doesn't delay timing.

It's an odd scene at practice. The Packers haven't held a kicking competition since 2007, when Crosby battled Dave Rayner.

"When you have competition in your face at a position," Slocum said, "it probably allows you to have heightened awareness of the situation you're in."

Toe on the line: Linebacker Dezman Moses didn't want to talk too much about the toe injury he suffered in practice Tuesday, in part because he's not sure what it is yet.

"I kind of stepped the wrong way," he said. "It's coming along."

Asked if it's safe to say it was a turf toe injury, which is a sprain of the big toe and can linger for quite awhile, Moses said not necessarily.

"I can't say for sure," he said. "They're still checking it out. Right now, it's just sore. We're taking it day to day and doing everything in their power and my power to get back out there as soon as possible. I'll be out there sooner than later."

Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.